Unit 8

April 18th – Our target this week was to brain storm ideas for our Final Major Projects by creating mind maps, listing our skills and learning about ourselves. I was successful in creating my mind map as well as making Powerpoint to display my skills about myself, showing my strengths, weaknesses, fears and positives. I was also able to play three ideas that I could use for my final major project which was “what is the future of television?”, “why is UK teaching different compared to teaching in other cultures?” and “the daily life in education in Sweden.” I have decided to go with the idea of “What is the future of television?”

Week Two

April 25th – Our target this week was to complete a SWOT analysis of ourselves, begin our research and plan our proposals. I was successful in creating a SWOT analysis which listed my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. I also created a SWOT analysis for my project for my research that also started this week. My main focus this week was to start looking at secondary research and get ideas of how I can capture my project.

Week Three

May 2nd – Our target this week was to continue with research for our final major projects. I continued with secondary research by looking up things online but also began to set up my secondary research but creating polls online and sharing them around social media. I began to list the pros and cons of both television and online streaming services in my research Powerpoint which was starting to take form. I also decided on the way I want to shoot my project which was in a multimedia style of both video, audio and print. I also contacted a couple of people to possibly interview on my audio piece by sending emails and social media messages.

Week Four

May 9th – Our target this week was to create and present our pitches and proposals which included an informal Powerpoint presentation of our projects. I was successful in completing my pitch, proposal and Powerpoint as well as presenting it in front of tutors. A problem I did encounter was that my proposal was laid out incorrectly and had to be rewritten a couple of times to meet the rest of the standard of work. When this was completed, I continued with my research.

Week Five

May 16th – Our target this week was to complete our research and pre-production paperwork. I was successful in completing my research which contained both primary and secondary research. I managed to gather my poll results and get an interview ready for my audio piece. I completed all the pre-production paperwork late this week however within the deadline which covered things such as health and safety, budgets, treatments and evidence of location. I booked some equipment for next week for my video piece which included a lapel microphone, tripod and lighting.

Week Six

May 23rd – Our target this week was too begin production as scheduled. A problem I instantly encountered was the person I was originally meant to interview canceled the day before the interview, so I had to use my contingency plan of interviewing someone else which would not be available until next week. During this time I also added more stuff towards my research such as techniques of recording and interviewing as well as reflecting on my previous work and assignments throughout the year at college to help me get a good idea of what I can do to improve my project. I recorded my footage for my video, however I ran into several issues of recording from audio problems to poor quality even after the settings had already been sorted with the testing before the recording.

Week Seven

May 30th – Out target this week was to continue production during the half term. I completed my audio piece with my interview which went well without any problems and saved all the audio to both my memory stick and Onedrive. I went into college to edit my audio piece which lead to it being completed this week, again without any problems. Once that was finished, I started to edit my video but ran into more problems such as software not importing the media files. Once this problem was resolved, the software seemed to lag and crash often making it not possible to edit so I decided to wait until next week when we are back at college so I could have some support through these technical difficulties.

Week Eight

June 6th – Our target this week was to complete our production and begin post production. I had my audio piece listened to for some feedback and received positive feedback. I did however need to edit a few extra bits and redo my outro due to it being a bit too sudden. I also attempted to edit my video again however it continued to have the same problems as the previous week. I asked several tutors for assistance to see if we could sort out the problem however after two days of trying (Monday and Tuesday) we were unsuccessful so I had no choice but to scrap the video part of my project. I then started and completed my written piece. As my video failed, I decided to put as much content from the video into the print part of my project which ended up to be rather successful. I was also successful in adding my audio piece to the print piece and adding links turning it into the style of an interactive web page.

Week Nine

June 13th – Our target this week was to complete our post production and wrap everything up. I handed in my print piece for it to be proof read from some peers who helped me correct some grammar and punctuation mistakes as well as structure it better. With this, I reposted it on my WordPress blog and made sure everything was Harvard referenced in my pre-production. Once I completed this, I completed my post production by writing up an evaluation for my whole final major project, listing the details of what went right and what went wrong as well as providing evidence of the video part of my project that was dropped.

Week Ten

June 20th – Our target this week was to make sure everything was completed before the 22nd June and to create a presentation by using Powerpoint so that we can present our projects in front of our class. I corrected all work that was needed of correcting which was pointed out with feedback from my tutor. I then created and completed my presentation Powerpoint for the deadline. Once all this was finished, I made sure there was no more work that needed to be completed and completed this weekly evaluation by making sure that there was nothing I missed out throughout the weeks.

My project was to create a multimedia with interactive elements in the mediums of video, audio and print. It was to discuss, look into and reflect on the question “What is the future of television?” The original question was “Entertainment vs Intertainment” however the question lacked body and was confusing to some people so I changed the question to have a better structure and to make it more understandable. The video was to be in a vlog, one to one with the camera style, to discuss the pros and cons of television and online streaming, the connections between the two and discuss what the future could be. The audio piece was to be an interview with a popular / semi popular streamer to find out how online streaming is becoming more of a thing in the entertainment business. The print piece was to be an artical / news style type or written piece with interactive media aspects too it which would reflect on the other two mediums and add more information while linking it to related source material.

Some strengths of my project was firstly, it was something I was generally interested about and it was interesting doing all the research as well as putting it all together. Another strength is that it was a project that used all three mediums of media so it was not only challenging but also got to show my skills in all three mediums. Another is that I got to do different things for each medium which helped wrap the project into a complete bundle covering every possible aspect of information.

Some weaknesses of my project was firstly, the video was never completed due to software malfunctions. The video and audio constantly lagged, crashed, not export plus messed up the image and audio even though it was all recorded on the same camera at the same time. Due to this happening, there was no time to fix this so the video was dropped but reflecting on it has become a strength. If this was to happen in a work place or for a future project then it would have cost me dearly and badly effected my project. This however was not the case as I still had the audio and print piece to go into my project, so I put as much information from the video into the other two pieces to keep that information all in the project.

Another weakness is that my plans and schedule which relied on other people failed quite a few times. The person I was originally meant to interview for my audio piece canceled the week I was meant to be interviewing her, then my contingency plan for an interviewee also canceled on my last minute. I was however after some asking around able to find a new person to interview so my audio piece was still possible.

One other weakness is that people didn’t fully understand what my project or question was about when I first came up with it. People didn’t know what an “intertainer” really was as it is a word that was created quite recently plus the question didn’t have enough to go on alone. This led me to change my question to “What is the future of television” yet keeping it in the same frame of context which the original question was aimed at.

The themes for my project was to reflect of my favourite entertainers from each genre that inspire me. For example, for my video project where it was in a vlog style video I took insipration from the YouTuber called Philip Defranco who does the same type of videos but about daily news around the world. My audio piece was inspired from Radio One’s Nick Grimshaw. His style of interviews inspired me because they were casual and fun which always kept the listeners attention which I personally loved. As for the writing piece, I chose the theme of writing it in the style of a web news artical because I like the simplistic layout of it all which makes it informative, clear to read, balanced out with images and videos with the text as well as the interactive element to it where it can lead on to other stories.

I experimented with locations for my video piece. I firstly tested in a college quiet room which was good audio wise however the lighting was awful even with extra added lighting around the room. This led to the video being recorded at my home in my attic because the lighting was far better but the audio was not as good. This was fixable however due to using a lapel microphone connected to the camera which made the audio sound less echo-y and more clearer.

Comparing this project to previous pieces of work that I have completed through the year, this project stands out. Comparing the audio piece for this project to the audio piece I did about “breakfast radio talk about Justin Bieber” I feel that I kept the same sort of style of conversation as well as editing it in the style that there is no pauses or unnecessary audio. I also feel that I improved on this by adding a sound-bed during the interview to make the interview sound more interesting as well as creating my own sound effects for censoring so adding towards my creativity with this piece.

I feel that for my key areas of development throughout the weeks of this project have been satisfactory. Even though there have been several hiccups throughout this project from people canceling on me for my interview to software making my video unusable, I have been able to stick to the schedule that I produced within the first couple of weeks of this project and use contingency plans effectively. A key moment for my project what when I finally did my interview with someone. It went really smooth, I explained before we recorded what the style of interview would be, that I wanted honest answers and to have somewhat of a debate if possible which we kind of did. Once the interview was completed I felt that it went really well and that I was sure I was going to make a decent edit with it which was a positive thought due to all the hiccups that happened around that time.

Looking back on my proposal, I was able to complete the audio and written piece to a standard which I feel not only happy with but somewhat proud of. The video however I did not complete due to technical problems which I am frustrated with as I spent a lot of time recording and beginning to edit. This did not manage to effect my project too much however as the audio and written pieces pretty much covered what the video had to offer. This project did not go as I originally planned at all, however I am still happy with the end result. I feel that the video could of been a nice addition however now that I have had time to reflect on it all with the audio and written pieces being completed, I feel that the video was not necessary for this project yet would of been a nice addition.

The feedback I have received from my tutors and peers about my project is positive. They enjoyed the audio piece a lot and gave me some opinions on how I could improve it which I accepted and took into account. There was room for some improvements on the audio piece such as the outro which was too blunt and sudden so I sorted out straight away as it made sense and after these changes the audio piece sounded a lot better. The written piece was proof read by a couple of volunteers and they helped me correct some sentences as well as cut out some parts that may sound either unnecessary or repetitive to make the written piece sound better.

Next time I think I will need to improve on planning what is required for future projects. I believe that the video was not needed now this project is over however I am glad that I at least made the effort to attempt to add some additional content to my project. I also think next time if I ever do something similar like this project again that I will focus more on the audio pieces and interview more than just one person and plan further in advance to get people that are less likely to cancel out. If I had more time on this project, I think I would spend some time interviewing more people to get as many views and opinions as possible to reflect on.

I believe that my final project is suitable for my targeted audience. The audio piece is interesting plus it is somewhat casual so it is easier to listen too. Plus the audio piece has censorship in it which I found a bit humorous and light hearted which I believe my targeted audience of 16-25 would enjoy. My written piece I also believe to still be targeted at my targeted audience as it has that interactive element to it and has a lay out that appeals to that age group instead of a big block of text that they might find off putting.

What I learnt from this final major project is not to take too many things on at once as me doing so led to things going wrong and leading on to stressing about it. I also learnt the importance of contingency plans as they saved my project from being completely ruined due to all the problems I encountered throughout this project. I do feel that my video skills need improvement such as behind the camera and editing with software that actually works. I do feel however that my audio skills have improved and I feel like I have gained confidence in interviewing people as well as being experimental with the audio editing software. I also think my print skills have also somewhat improved to the way that I now know what lay out is better for the chosen topic as well as how to do that lay out well which I will use for future projects as well.

What is the future of television?

By Andrew Foreman

Source: @Fiestoforo

In a generation growing up with more accessible and interactive forms of media, is the future of the television in jeopardy?

With television being the most recognised and accessible form of entertainment as well as being a device for finding out what is happening in the world, it is strange to think that there would ever be a time where something could challenge a format as huge as television. Yet change is happening more and more each day as social media and online streaming is growing in popularity.

Research has shown that interactive media such as social media and online streaming is rising in popularity while cable television sales are slowly declining in yearly contract commitments. Research has also shown that the individuals that use this growing format of media with sites such as Netflix are in the 18 – 24 age range while the demographics of the average individual who mainly watches television is aged between 40-55 based on Yougov surveys.

Obviously both platforms have their positives and negatives. For example the strength of the television over the online streaming media is that it can air live news and sports. The only way people who use multimedia platforms can do this is by downloading apps onto their devices, an example being the BBC mobile app or subscribing to their services. However, this does not mean the television is superior. A weakness of the television is that it is all based on a time schedule and is not as user-friendly. Online networks do not share this fixed style; there are no advertisements nor schedules, plus you have an expansive selection of shows, films and specials to watch compared to the television that uses time slots and needed to pay extra monthly for more channels.

The question is, why is it changing? A possible answer could be because of the new generation of children and teenagers who have spent their lives growing up with this new technology, understanding it better and using it so often in their daily lives that it just feels natural to them. Studies have actually shown that over 50% of the teenage population use social media as their main source of news. While it can be argued that the older generations who are less familiar with this technology might struggle to keep up to date with all the technological updates, this could be why some stick to what they are comfortable and familiar with being the television.

Some companies have realised that change that is upon us and have started to adapt to this new form of media to grab the attention of more audiences. A prime example of this being the recent change that BBC Three did, switching their broadcasting completely from airing on television to being online only.

Source: @BBC

Why did BBC Three made this changes? It is due to the younger audience they were attracting and decided to form BBC Three into a product best suited for them. By BBC Three making this change they are now able to have more flexibility with their broadcasting as well as focusing more on british content.

It is not unusual to see big television companies try to adapt to the new format however; most major television stations nowadays have some sort of internet platform that they can gain support from. Television stations such as the BBC, ITV and Channel Four all have online catch up television services now such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Catch up and 4OD. With these platforms, people who missed or want to re-watch a show can just go online to either their respective websites or apps to re-watch with no time schedule which is ideal for the individuals.

A poll was also posted onto social media to see what format of media people prefered between watching television for TV Shows, Films as well as live news and sport compared to online streaming services such as Netflix, Youtube and Twitch.

In this poll, 117 individuals voted and the overall winner by just over two-thirds of the votes was the online streaming services at 68%.

We thought it would be insightful to hear the opinions of someone about this topic so we decided to interview Alex Tallada from Stockholm, Sweden to get his views.

We asked him where he saw television in the future. Alex said that he thinks it will stay for a while as families like to watch television together however it will slowly die as the future proceeds.

You can listen to the whole six minute interview with Alex with the SoundCloud clip below. We must disclaim that the language is mature so please listen with caution.

So in conclusion and to answer our question “what is the future of television?” the answer is simple. Television will never truly die out due to competition. Instead it will continue to change and adapt to the new technologies and methods of viewing just like BBC Three has recently done. Plus while this is happening, online interactive networks such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and YouTube will continue to grow in popularity and gain viewership as it has done over the previous few years. With these networks now starting to air their own original content to gain the interest of new viewers while owning the rights to have other popular shows such as Breaking Bad and House MD, it is clear that this new style of media is not only here to stay, but will continue to expand and capture the attention of the future generations.

We would love to hear your opinions on this topic so please feel free to leave a comment and share and tell us your thoughts.